The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1887-09-23


daub of some mere pretender. ! will
take him to the Raphaels and the Michae
Angeles. 1t is most unfair and dishones
to take the ignominious failures in Chris
tian profession instead Of the gloriou
successes The Bi3le and the church arr
great picture galleries filled with master
pieces.
| Furthermore, we learn from this story
of Joseph that the result of persecution II
elevation. Had it not been for his being
sold into Egyptian bondage by his mali
cious brothers and his false Imprisonment
Joseph would never have become prime
minister. Everybody accepts the prom
Use: BLESSED are they that are perse'
cuted for righteousness sake; for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven" but they do not
realize the fact that this principle applies
to worldly as well as spiritual success. 1t
is true in all departments Had it not
been for Eschines. who brought i'm
parchment against Demosthenes, the i'm
mortal Grafton De Corona would never
have been delivered Men rise to high
political position through misrepresenta-
ton and the assault of the public. Pub
lie abuse is all that some Of our public
men have had to rely upon for their ele-
walton. 1t has brought to them what
talent and executive force could never
have achieved. Many of those who are
making great effort for place and power
will never succeed just because they are
not of enough importance to be
abused. 1t is the nature of man
to gather about those who are
prosecuted and defend them. and they
are apt to forget the faults Of those who
are the subjects of attack while attempt
ing to drive back the slanderers. Helen
Stirk, Scotch martyr condemned with
her husband to death for Christ's sake,
said to her husband: "Rejoice; we have
lived together many joyful days, but this
day wherein we must die together ought
to be most joyful to us both. Therefore
I will not bid you good night, for soon
we shall meet in the heavenly kingdom"
By the flash of the furnace best Christian
character is demonstrated.
l go into another department, and I
find that those great denominations of
have spread most rapidly. No good man
was ever more vilely maltreated than
John Wesley. His followers were hooted
at and maligned and called by every de-
testable name that internal ingenuity
could invent, but the hotter the per-
secution the more rapid the spread
of that denomination, until you know
what a great host they have become and
what tremendous force for God and the
truth they are welding all the world
over. 1t was persecution that gave Scot
land to Presbyterianism. 1t was perse-
cution which gave our own land first to
civil liberty and afterward to religious
freedom. Yea, may go further back
and say it was persecution that gave
the world the great salvation Of the
Gospel The ribald mockery, the hun
gering and thirsting. the unjust and
ignominious death where all the force
of hell's fury was hurled against
the cross, was the introduction of that
religion which is yet to be the earth's
deliverance from guilt and suffering, and
her everlasting enhancement among the
of heaven. The state has
said to the church: ''Come,
let me take your hand and will help
you. What has been the result? The.
church has gone back and has lost it's
estate of holiness and has become in
effective. At other times the state has
said to the church: II will crush YOU"
What has been the result? After the |
storms have spent their fury, the church,
80 far from having lost any of its force,
has increased and is worth infinitely |
more after the assault than before it. |
The church is far more indebted to the |
opposition of civil government than to its
approval. The fires of the stake have
'nly been the torches which Christ held
n his hand by the light of which the
church has marched to her present posi-
ion. In the sound of racks and nipple
nents of torture hear the rumbling of
he wheels of the Gospel chariot. Scat
Odds of martyrdom have been the stairs
" which the church has assembled. Aqua
ortis is the best test of pure gold.
Furthermore, our subject impresses us
hat sins will come to exposure. Long,
ong ago, had these brothers sold Joseph
nto Egypt. They had suppressed the
rime, and it was profound secret well
,ept by the brothers. But suddenly the
eCTeC Is OUT. Inc Olu 1dIucf uedTS CQdC
lis son is in Egypt, having been sold
here by the malice of his own brothers.
low their cheeks must have burned and
heir hearts sunk at the flaming out of
his suppressed crime. The smallest in
luity has thousand tongues, and they
7ill blab out an exposure. Saul was sent
D destroy the Canaanites, their sheep
nd their oxen. But when he got down
here among the pastures he saw some
ne sheep and oxen too fat to kill, and so
e thought he would steal them. He
rove them toward home, but stopped to
eport to the prophet how well he had
xecuted his commission, when in the
istance the sheep began to bleat and the
ken to below. The secret was out, and
amuel said to the blushing and con-
FUNDED Saul: "What means the bleating
{ the sheep that I hear and the lowing
the cattle?" Aye, my hearers, you
annot keep an iniquity quiet. At just
lie wrong time the sheep will bleat and
he oxen will below. Achan cannot ]
cal the Babylonish garment without
citing stoned to death, nor Benedict Ar. 6
old betray his country without having ,
is neck stretched. Look over the police